Second Chance to Love
by At the End of Dreaming
Summary: After Summer dies, Ziggy helps Dillon take care of his daughter. Mentioned former Dillon/Summer. Dillon/Ziggy. Mentioned character death. Slash


Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. Inspired by merle_p's Glee story_ "A Whole New Epiphany"_ on livejournal.

Second Chance to Love

Birthing complications.

In the end, he had lost Summer not to Grinders, or to Venjix, or to Ranger duties. He had lost her due to complications during birth. Summer, his Summer, was gone forever. He could still see her, her eyes bright and excited when they found out she was pregnant. They had both been so happy when they had heard. After all the struggle, their lives were finally falling together. But Summer... hadn't made it through the birth of their little girl. He didn't know how he was going to manage raising the angel without her; she had known what to do, he hadn't.

He was broken from his thoughts when a soft cry, accompanied by the sound of muffled footsteps, approached him. He looked up from the floor to see Ziggy standing in front of him, a bit of the sadness he felt reflected in the younger man's dark brown eyes. Cradled in his arms like the most important thing in the universe was a small baby wrapped in a sun-kissed yellow blanket. He could see the young child starting to stir restlessly in Ziggy's arms. Before he could ask for her, Ziggy held out the baby to him, allowing him to take her. He tried to imitate Ziggy's stance as closely as possible, knowing he made it look impossibly awkward.

Ziggy giggled, just slightly, and gently nudged his arms into place. "Support her head, Dillon." he whispered, his tone still carrying that fond note it had always had when they were Rangers. He followed the younger man's instructions until it Ziggy was happy and it no longer felt like he was going to drop her. Once he was sure she was secure he stood completely still and gazed down at her. She had just the smallest bit of hair along her crown which was the darkest shade of blonde possible without being brown. She was squinting up at him with dark eyes, her face chubby with baby fat. But he could see she would have Summer's nose and his own strong jaw. She was, in his own eyes, utterly beautiful.

The baby gurgled up at him and reached one very small, fragile hand towards him. He smiled, feeling tears gather in the corners of his eyes, and reached out to carefully grasp the tiny hand, making sure not to apply too much pressure. "Hey, baby girl." he whispered to her. "Its alright, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

Ziggy's hand fell onto his shoulder, reminding him that the other boy was still standing next to him. He looked up at him with misty eyes to see Ziggy smiling at him. "Do you have a name for her?" he asked. Dillon nodded, looking down at the giggling infant in his arms. "Rose. Summer wanted to name her Rose."

Ziggy nodded, still smiling at him. Dillon noticed there were tears in his eyes now too. They were going to miss her so much. "We'll help you Dillon." Ziggy promised. "Both you and Rose. K's setting up a place for you two at the school. The twins and Tenaya are getting clothes and baby food. Scott and Flynn are seeing about vaccinations and pediatricians. Everything's going to be okay now Dillon. I swear it."

The first few tears slipped free before he could stop them. He stepped forward and rested his head against his best friend's shoulder, crying and whispering more to himself about how badly he missed Summer already. Ziggy wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close, trying not to squish the baby between them. He whispered words of comfort into his ear, rubbing his back softly. Between them, the newly-christened Rose gurgled again.

--0--0--

After that, everything seemed to come naturally. Ziggy knew just what needed to be done and did it before he had the chance to act. The younger man over his life for a few weeks, allowing him to grieve for the loss of the woman he loved. He was absurdly happy for the help, knowing he would have fallen apart without it. And when he was ready to face the world again, Ziggy had everything ready for him. Ziggy seemed to know just what he needed, just where the holes in his life were and how to fix them.

It helped to have the younger man there to support him. While he loved Rose and wouldn't trade her for the world, he knew nothing about taking care of babies. Ziggy did. And he was great with children; only to happy to help him where and when he could. Ziggy had him help teach the young kids at the school how to defend themselves so he didn't feel completely useless. While he was grieving, Ziggy had helped the twins gather clothes and toys for Rose and had Tenaya and K paint the nursery. He made sure Rose had a doctor. Somehow, he managed to help him, support Rose, and teach the kids at the same time; allowing him the time to grieve Summer and cherish Rose, instead of worrying about how he was going to take care of her.

Ziggy was a godsend those first three months, when he'd often find himself lost and unsure what to do. He made sure he kept his head above the water. Unlike what he had first thought when Summer had died, he knew this wasn't going to be impossible anymore. Ziggy and Tenaya were helping him through it; all the former Rangers were, in their own small ways.

--0--0--

Sevens months in and he knew he wasn't imagining things anymore. He might be a bit daft and slow at times but he wasn't completely stupid. He had seen the way Summer looked at him while she was alive enough times to recognize the look growing in Ziggy's eyes. Ziggy was falling for him. Had been for a while now. He hadn't wanted to believe it when he had first seen Ziggy looking at him with so much fondness he couldn't hold the gaze for more than a few seconds. After that, the number of times he'd seen that same look on Ziggy's face had grown until he could no longer ignore it.

And from the way Ziggy was acting lately, he knew as well and was doing what ever he could to stop himself. And he was failing miserably.

It wasn't that he didn't like Ziggy. No, in fact, quite the opposite. Ziggy was sweet and took care of the both of him. He loved watching the younger man toss Rose into the air and blow raspberries against her stomach. He loved it when Ziggy dragged him out, assuring him Tenaya could take care of Rose, and forced him to have his own life as well. He loved the quiet nights when he and Ziggy were sitting on the couch, Rose sound asleep in the next room, and despite the fact that Ziggy had pulled his legs up, the ends of his toes still ended up tucked beneath Dillon's knees. He loved Ziggy's warm smiles and soft laughter and the way his eyes lit up like the sun.

And he trusted Ziggy with his life. He trusted Ziggy with Rose's life and there was nothing he held dearer than that little girl. Tenaya didn't seem to go a day without having to mention just how adorable the young man was and no, I didn't want to date him, but wasn't he just so _cute_ with Rose, and don't you dare lie to me Dillon. Ziggy was his dearest, his closest, friend. But he wasn't ready to be hurt again. He trusted Ziggy but he didn't know if he could trust himself, not yet.

He wasn't ready.

--0--0--

Thirteen months and two weeks. It had been nearly a year since Summer had died. He still loved her but it no longer hurt just to think about her. He would never forget her, never quit loving her, but he was finally ready to move on. Rose was learning to speak, just small little words at a time. She had been saying "papa" for nearly a month now and he was pretty sure Ziggy had taught her that because he had look smug for a week after that. She had also learned "food", "bird", "ball", several different colors, and, for some reason, had taken to howling whenever she saw one of the old Ranger issue jackets. He was pretty sure Ziggy had something to do with that last one as well.

He returned to the apartment Ziggy had gotten him, immediately moving to the living room where he had left the Doc was playing with Rose. The two females were playing on the floor, Doctor K helping the young toddler learn her shapes. K had been happy to help once she learned that Rose only really wanted three things during the day: food, a new diaper, and her father. The scientist looked up at him when he entered and offered him one of her small smiles before moving Rose's attention towards him.

The young child squealed when she saw him, holding out her arms and shouting "Papa!" at the top of her lungs. He smiled and swooped her up into his arms, nuzzling into the side of her neck. "Hey, baby girl." he greeted, closing his eyes and enjoying her laughter. He blew softly against her neck, causing her to giggle again and try to push him away with her small arms. "Tickles!" she shouted, the word slurred almost beyond recognition.

He looked up at the Doc with a smile. "You teach her a new word?"

She nodded. "Many new words. She's quite eager."

He agreed, turning his attention back to Rose when she started to squirm. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, she reached her arms out to something behind him. The next word she gurgled out sounded to much like "mama" to be anything else. He froze and slowly turned to look behind him. Ziggy was standing behind him, staring at him with wide, shocked eyes. Dillon had never seen him look so vulnerable as he did in that moment. Ziggy slowly dragged his eyes to look at Doctor K. "Did you teach her **that**?" he asked, sounding raw and choked. His eyes looked wet.

Doctor K shook her head this time, looking more amused than anything. Rose started to really struggle then, reaching out for Ziggy urgently and constantly chanting "mama", each time the word more clearer than the last. Ziggy stared at Rose, his expression so full of emotion that he could no longer read it. And he could definitely see tears. Ziggy stepped forward and looked up at him. "Can I?" he asked, holding his arms out for Rose.

He nodded, carefully passing the young girl to Ziggy. The younger man held her close, bouncing slightly, and dropping kisses onto the full head of blonde hair. "It's alright." he whispered to her even though he was looking up at Dillon. "I'm here."

He stepped closer to Ziggy, staring down at him. He never noticed Doctor k slip quietly out of the room. "Yeah," he whispered, wondering if his words sounded as loaded to Ziggy as they did to him. "Yeah you are." He slowly reached one hand up and brushed it across Ziggy's cheek. He stared at Ziggy for a long time and Ziggy stared back, Rose content to burrow in his arms and giggle as she played with a few loose threads in Ziggy's shirt. "Stay the night?" he requested, knowing he was ready to move on. Summer would kick his ass if he let Ziggy go after everything the young man had done for him and Rose.

Ziggy stared up at him with wide eyes. "Don't play with me Dillon." he whispered, sounding as vulnerable as he looked. Dillon smiled slightly and stepped closer, staring down at Rose's peaceful expression for a moment. Finally he looked back up at Ziggy. "I'm not. Believe me, I'm not."

A slow, sweet smile slipped across Ziggy's lips. "Then I'd love to stay."


End file.
